Forget Google Wallet. A London-based startup has created object, pose and gesture recognition technology that could let you merely wave your wallet at a computer screen to initiate an online payment.
That's just one of many possible applications for Seemove, a technology from Seeper. As the video below illustrates, Seemove can be used for Minority Report- and Iron Man types of pose and gesture-recognition that will let you pretend you're Tom Cruise or Tony Stark. Only here, as well as manipulating a computer with hand and arm movements, you can also train the system to recognize any object, like your smartphone allowing you to then literally "pull" photos and videos from your device.
Evan Grant, the founder of Seeper, says the video is designed as a demonstration of what the technology can do and may or may not reflect how consumers ultimately use Seemove. The technology will be released as Middleware for developers. Such developers can use Seemove to create apps and other software that are controlled by physical gestures, poses and objects.
The latter distinguishes Seemove from other technologies in the market, most notably Microsoft's Kinect, which recognizes gestures but not objects. That said, the team behind SeeMove has succeeded in tracking greater complexity with the Microsoft Kinect camera than Microsoft itself has demonstrated. When asked what developers will do with Seemove, Grant said that there are load of things, from healthcare to education to retail. In addition to letting you wave a wallet at the screen to initiate payment, Grant says you could also use it for interactive kids toys, controlling home entertainment systems, gaming and even sign language.
Founded in 1998, Seeper is a self-styled interactive arts and technology collective. Grant says that Seemove will soon spin off of Seeper as its own company as is actively looking for investors and interested developers.